The race to build autonomous war robots faces a problem that self-driving cars don't. There are no rules of the road.

Detailed summary

A chaotic battlefield is very different to city streets, so companies making war robots have to design for a lack of roads and rules and amid chaos.

War robots are becoming a growing presence on modern battlefields, and defense manufacturers are pushing to make them more autonomous to further reduce the risks to soldiers. But making uncrewed ground vehicles that can drive themselves into battle presents a challenge that self-driving cars don't. The number of robots in military arsenals is soaring, particularly in Ukraine, where they fire weapons, attack positions, and carry wounded soldiers, all while their operators remain farther from danger. Greater autonomy would allow fewer soldiers to operate more vehicles, let troops stay farther from the front, and allow robots to keep going when communications are disrupted.

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